


Shut Up And Dance With Me

by bitterowl



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: Alcohol, Dancing, Established Relationship, M/M, Partying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:10:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7889185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitterowl/pseuds/bitterowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now, with his eyes closed, Richard was alone, save for the gin, the music, and Erlich's hands to guide him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shut Up And Dance With Me

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by one of the prompts from [this post](http://bitterowls.tumblr.com/post/149576601166/100-sentence-prompts).

"Come dance with me!"

Richard's hand was sweaty when Erlich grabbed it, pulling him toward the mass of writhing bodies on what was probably the only dance-floor Richard had ever been near in his entire life. It didn't look like fun, and he didn't know why Erlich seemed so intent on joining in. Maybe it was a networking thing. Regardless of anything, Richard was _not_ drunk enough for this.

"Huh?" Richard asked, in the event he hadn't understood.  Judging by Erlich's crooked grin and the way he moved his shoulders to the oppressive beat, it was more likely that he had heard him loud and clear. "Uh, no?"

"Come o-o-on," Erlich crooned, giving Richard a tug that nearly sent him toppling. "The night is young, we're at _the_ most banging party I've ever been to in the entire fucking Valley, and I'll be damned if I'm going to pass up this golden opportunity."

"Then don't," Richard said, trying to get slide his hand out of Erlich's, but he held fast. "Go find someone else to dance with! There's, like, at least a hundred people here."

Erlich did a full-body eye-roll, then found Richard's shoulder, clapping a large hand onto it and jostling him gently. "I don't _want_ to ask someone else!" Erlich said, green eyes twinkling with a sort of manic, desperate energy. "Come on, Richard. _Live_ with me!"

Richard bit his lip, sucked in a deep breath through his nose, and closed his eyes. "Fine."

"Seriously?" Erlich asked, but but before Richard could reply, he pressed a hard and greedy kiss to Richard's lips.

Even as his legs turn to jelly, Richard was keenly aware of how many people were around them.

" _Shit_ , yes," Erlich cheered with a fierce grin, wasting no more time in dragging Richard toward the throng of squirming bodies. "Drain that glass and take my hand, baby boy. This is gonna be a night to remember."

"I already have your hand," Richard mumbled, but smiled in spite of himself. Erlich's euphoria was catching. As they walked, he swallowed down the rest of his cocktail and placed his glass on a table, allowing Erlich to pull him into the crowd.

After a few moments of tugging and wandering, Erlich seemed to settle on where he wanted to be. He chose a section of the dance floor that wasn't quite in the middle, but not quite in on the fringes, where the mass of bodies was thick but Richard and Erlich weren't the center of attention. Richard was, at the very least, grateful for that.

Erlich wasted no time in getting down to business, as it were. Whether or not he was doing it with any skill whatsoever was unclear. Richard watched with equal parts intrigue and gnawing embarrassment, trying to figure out something to do with himself that didn't involve staring at his feet.

"Come on, Richard, don't just stand there!" Erlich yelled over the steady pulse of the music. "Do something!"

"Do _what_?" Richard asked miserably. He had begun to regret absolutely everything he had ever done, up to and including this very moment.

"I don't know, move your feet!" Erlich said, doing a sort of weird shuffle. When Richard continued to root himself to the floor, he stopped, leaning in so that he could speak without shouting. "Have you seriously never danced before?"

Richard tried to recall a time—any time—he had ever done anything even remotely  like dancing, either by himself or with other people, but he came back woefully empty-handed. He had never even tried the stupid, arrow-based dance games that all his nerd friends played back in high school. Perhaps it was the gin working its magic on his boring, over-rational brain, but the fact that he had never actually danced was suddenly very disconcerting.

Maybe Erlich was right in his implication—Richard had not, in fact, _lived_.

"Shit," Erlich said, when Richard didn't answer him. "Okay. Listen to the music."

"I am!" Richard snapped. "It's kind of impossible not to."

"No, damnit, I mean really _listen_ to the music," Erlich said, stepping closer, once again moving to the beat. " _Feel_ it."

Richard rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Okay, feeling it," he lied.

"Don't bullshit a bullshitter," Erlich chided, but he didn't seem angry, or even disappointed. "Let's try this. Close your eyes."

Richard took an uneasy glance around at the throng of people, then back at Erlich. "Uh, no?"

"Well, tough, you gotta trust me on this," Erlich said, giving him a crooked, impish grin.

"Okay, fine," Richard said, feigning far more reluctance than he actually felt. The gin, with its warm, deft fingers, was quickly unraveling his inhibition, leaving him _wanting_ to trust Erlich, if only because it was something that _could_ be done. Without a second thought, took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

He nearly jumped when he felt a hand at his hip, eyes snapping back open, heart racing at the sudden touch.

"Shit, it's just me," Erlich said with a smirk, giving him a gentle, affirming squeeze.

Richard gave him a sheepish frown. "Sorry."

"Shh, it's fine," Erlich said, pressing his lips to Richard's forehead. The contact was nice. "But you gotta close 'em, or we can't do this."

Richard sighed and rolled his eyes. He was unable to keep himself from smiling a little, either because of how absurd this was, or because Erlich, like always, had gotten into his head. Nodding, he gave Erlich one last shy glance before letting his eyelids flutter shut.

"Now, _feel_ the music."

Richard let himself breathe, furrowing his brow as he concentrated on the music. It was a heady dance song—the kind that popped up on Spotify playlists with the usual EDM fare he often listened to when coding. It wasn't bad. If anything, it reminded him of when he'd really get into it, the lines of code flowing from his brain and through his fingers, the music filling in all the creases in his brain with its hard and heavy rhythm, allowing him to be nothing in the moment but pure cognition.

Now, with his eyes closed, Richard was alone, save for the gin, the music, and Erlich's hands to guide him. At first, he just let himself be aware of the shift of Erlich's body near him, trying to follow the rhythmic sway with his mind, feeling the push and pull of the hands on his hips, his waist, his sides. Before he realized it was happening, he was moving with him, imperceptibly at first, but then with bouncing, deliberate motion.

" _There_ we go." Erlich's voice was a low rasp in his ear, his breath hot on Richard's neck, thick with the scent of alcohol, eliciting a shuddering laugh from Richard's throat. "Open your eyes."

Richard let his eyes flutter open, blinking in the dim, neon lights of the party. Erlich's face was bathed in pink and purple, his grin wide and cooked, eyes crinkling and full of simple, profound delight. Richard stared up at him, afraid to look away in case the bubble of uncomplicated self-unawareness might pop.

"Look at you," Erlich said, hand slipping up his side, coaxing him on. "Getting busy on a motherfucking dance floor. If I weren't living so fully in the moment, I'd record it for posterity."

Laughing, Richard buried his face in a hand, still moving in time with the music. "Please don't. I look ridiculous."

"Yeah? So?" Erlich did a move that was not at all unlike a boa constrictor being choked to death. "Take a look at everybody else, Richard, and tell me they don't look like _complete_ fucking idiots."

Richard laughed again. He wanted to complain, to say that if that were the case, he was surely King of the Idiots. Instead, he just said, "I have no idea what to do with my arms."

"Whatever you want to." Erlich gave him a wink.

Without a second thought, Richard threw his arms around Erlich's neck and moved in close.

Fuck dignity. He was _living_.


End file.
